Aridge (XPeng) A868 (prototype)
(Photo credit: Aridge)
Aridge A868 (prototype)
Aridge (Division of XPeng)
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
www.aridge.com
www.intl.aridge.com
The information provided here is as accurate as possible; however, eVTOL information from China is sometimes sparse, incomplete or conflicting. China is promoting what they call the "low-altitude economy" — a new push for general aviation — which includes both crewed and uncrewed passenger and air cargo eVTOL aircraft.
Aridge, a division of XPeng, began in October 2025 and is located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. The company is in the business of designing and manufacturing passenger hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft and ground vehicles for advanced air mobility (AAM). The company has made a ground vehicle which stores one of their multicopter aircraft for transportation. The company has had several different names but the latest name change happened when XPeng renamed XPeng AeroHT to Aridge in October 2025.
Company History
With funding from XPeng Motors, XPeng AeroHT was founded in 2020 as one of its subdivisions and is located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. XPeng AeroHT is in the business of designing and manufacturing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) passenger aircraft for advanced air mobility (AAM). The company was originally founded as Heitech in 2013 by Zhao Deli in Dongguan, Guangdong, China and was later purchased by XPeng Motors. He Xiaopeng is the Chairman and CEO of XPeng Motors and the Chairman of XPeng AeroHT. Zhao Deli is currently the president of XPeng AeroHT, Wang Tan is the co-founder, vice president and chief designer of XPeng AeroHT and Zheng Congwei is the vice president of XPeng AeroHT. (Image credit: XPeng AeroHT)
XPeng Motors was founded in 2014 by He Xiaopeng, Henry Xia and He Tao and is a leading Chinese all-electric vehicle and technology company that designs, develops and manufactures intelligent automobiles that are seamlessly integrated with the Internet and utilize the latest advances in artificial intelligence. The company's headquarters are located in Guangzhou, China.
The company's manufacturing philosophy centers around quality, continuous improvement, flexibility and high operating efficiency. XPeng's goal is to make smart electric vehicles with technology and data, and shape the consumer mobility experience of the future. XPeng went public in the U.S. in August 2020 and has completed a dual-primary listing in Hong Kong.
About eVTOL Inventor Zhao Deli
When Zhao Deli was very young, he always liked electronics, science and had the dream to fly. In 2008, Zhao by chance, saw a group of people flying remote-controlled model aircraft which sparked his interest in flying again. He began to work on, study and learn to make model aircraft, including drones and helicopters and learned how to make them fly.
After making electric drones for several years (including a hybrid-electric drone), Deli started his own company in 2010 to sell drones. The company created five different drone models to manufacture and sell. Then around 2016, Deli read about a hover surfboard from Canada, this information was the catalyst to for him to begin building an eVTOL hoverbike for one passenger.
He started out funding himself with his own money, by selling his home and borrowing money from friends. He then attracted investors to keep his research going. After his drone company went bankrupt, Deli attracted an investment of $2.8 million (USD), all from Chinese venture capitalists and XPeng AeroHT was formed. Before XPeng AeroHT was formed, Deli's two previous and now defunct eVTOL companies were named GroundAero and Heitech Aeronautics & Astronautics.
A868 uncrewed eVTOL aircraft (prototype)
The A868 is an uncrewed hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft prototype. The prototype looks very close in design to the production model concept design. Looking at the Hovering Validation Test video shows the company has made a high-tech prototype with advanced tilt-propellers. The prototype looks as though it is a full-scale prototype. The company has stated the aircraft has entered the flight testing which signals major progress toward commercialization.
While no specifications have been released by the company, the prototype has six tilt-propellers, six electric motors and is assumed to have a hybrid-electric power source. The front two propellers close the fuselage tilt vertically with a linkage mechanism. The remaining four propellers tilt vertically, including the entire electric motor nacelle. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite to give the aircraft a high strength to low weight ratio. The prototype has fixed skid landing gear.
Specifications:
- Aircraft type: Uncrewed eVTOL tilt-prop aircraft (prototype)
- Piloting: Remote control
- Capacity: No passengers
- Cruise speed: Unknown
- Propellers: 6 propellers
- Electric motors: 6 electric motors
- Power source: Hybrid-electric power source
- Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
- Wings: 1 main high wing
- Tail: V-tail
- Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear
- Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) uses multiple propellers or electric ducted fans, each powered by electric motors, to increase safety through redundancy. If one or more components fail, the remaining ones can still ensure a safe landing. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft providing safety through redundancy. Having multiple redundant systems on any aircraft decreases having any single point of failure.
Related Aircraft:
- GroundAero Sport Utility Aircraft (defunct)
- XPeng AeroHT Air F1 (defunct)
- XPeng AeroHT Cruiser (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT eVTOL Flying Car (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT Flying Car (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT Magic Cloud (defunct)
- XPeng AeroHT Modular Flying Car (production model)
- XPeng AeroHT Skimmer (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT Snow Flyer (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT Sport (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT T1 (production model)
- XPeng AeroHT Tilt-Wing (technology demonstrator)
- XPeng AeroHT Voyager X1 (production model)
- XPeng AeroHT Voyager X2 (production model)
- XPeng AeroHT X3 (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT X3 (technology demonstrator)
- XPeng AeroHT X5 (concept design)
Company Insights:
Resources:
- Aridge website
- Aridge Facebook
- Aridge YouTube
- Aridge Instagram
- Aridge TikTok
- Aridge LinkedIn
- Video: The New ARIDGE A868 Is Here, Aridge, Nov. 5, 2025
- Article: ARIDGE Brings Next Gen Product A868 and News on the Mass-Production Factory, Aridge, Nov. 5, 2025
- Article: Xpeng Aridge officially debuts hybrid flying car A868 with range exceeding 500 km, CNEV Post, Nov. 5, 2025
- Article: Xpeng Promises To Deliver First Flying Car In 2026 With More On The Horizon, BGR, Nov. 5, 2025
- Video: ARIDGE A868 Hovering Validation Test, Aridge, Nov. 10, 2025
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